Music: The Twilight Singers

Two of our area's best musical exports come home on back-to-back nights this week: Brooklyn-based The National headlines MusicNOW Sunday (see feature here), and Greg Dulli brings his Twilight Singers to the Southgate House Monday. Dulli needs little introduction in these parts, but for those who are somehow not familiar, the now-46-year-old Hamilton native founded/fronted The Afghan Whigs in late '80s, exploding out of the local scene via a string of visceral, dark-hued albums (the best of which, 1993's Gentlemen, continues to grow in stature).

Dulli's post-Whigs output has been just as compelling, with a trio of releases with The Twilight Singers and, with doom-voiced singer Mark Lanegan, an album as The Gutter Twins (among other projects). The Singers' latest, Dynamite Steps, is another satisfying widescreen endeavor, "shot on location" in Dulli's residences of choice in California and New Orleans, another trip to the dark side by way of its creator's evocative lyrics and a dynamic sonic landscape that's instantly familiar and somehow as moving as ever. Tickets are $17 in advance, $20 day of show.